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Are Millennials Just Gen X With Hipper Clothes?

Recently, I was asked to provide career advice for a friend of a friend’s daughter. She’s in the first year of her career and trying to figure out if she’s chosen the right path and how to navigate so she can apply her strengths and talents. What struck me wasn’t how different her expectations and questions were as an infamous Millennial – but how they were exactly what I would have said 20 years ago.

I’m fortunate in my work that I get exposure to all generations in the workforce. It so often hits me how consistent we all are. Yet, I’m commonly asked in workshops how to manage Millennials effectively. We’ve all been warned: Millennials are selfish, lazy, entitled, and demanding. As the so called, “Me Me Me” generation, Millennials put themselves and their individual goals above the good of the team. Plus, they need an exhausting amount of feedback and pats on the back.

But as Millennials approach 36% of the workforce in 2014, how much of the hype is actually playing out? Do Millennials really need a different management style, or is it more about their career stage, age or the overall economy? Another way to put it is this: “Are Millennial Employees Truly Different, or Just Younger?”

As I wrote last year, I see Millennials changing corporate norms for the better. I also believe that Gen X did their fair part, as did the Boomers before them. Every generation comes in young, with something to prove and a fresh perspective. Some ideas stick; some don’t. (We can all agree that mandatory suits and pantyhose are good to be gone.)

Are Millennials really so different in the workplace as we thought? (Photo credit: Christopher.Michel)

As Millennials become the majority of those you manage – and eventually your manager – being able to appreciate their perspective while not locking them into rigid stereotypes serves all of us. After all, we’ve attributed a discrete list of attributes to the largest generation in history.

When I’m asked to comment on how to manage this group of about 95 million people, I defer as I’m not a generational expert. However, I’m coming around to the idea that none of us needs to be. We’re better off keeping a few well verified social trends in mind, then using good management skills to fill in the rest. Here’s what I advise:

According to a 2010 Pew Research Center study, 75% of Gen Yers have a social media profile. Millennials “outpace older Americans in virtually all types of internet and cell use. They are more likely to have their own social networking profiles, to connect to the internet wirelessly when away from home or work, and to post a video of themselves online.” 83% of Millennials sleep with their phones by their beds.

Millennials grew up integrating their lives with technology – and training their parents.

This is one reason that Millennials in Viacom’s research believe in a bi-directionality of authority. In other words, they say that being a boss and an equal aren’t mutually exclusive.

2. Don’t expect them to be self-centered or entitled—any more than any Gen Xer or Boomer is.

In a recent EY generations survey, 68% of respondents considered Millennials “entitled and concerned primarily about individual promotion.” However, 51% also attributed this trait to members of Gen X, and 32% thought Boomers were a bit entitled themselves.

Further, when asked to reflect on their own generation, all respondents viewed their own generation as entitled, including 60% of Generation Y, 49% of Generation X and 27% of Boomers. Note the declining percentage as we get older, and hopefully wiser, with a broadened perspective. (Otherwise called aging.)

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I was reading an article about the comparing the different generations and their work cultures. Something I found interesting in the article, is that it used the word “cynical” to describe how Gen-X grew up. I could not know less about Gen-Xers and admittedly needed to look up what “latch-key” meant, while reviewing the article – so I will not weight in too heavily about it.

Its definitely surprising to me that the strongly-held and rancorous feelings towards Millennials is as heated and negative as the country’s polarized political atmosphere!

Which as Millennials are most considered the swing voters, this has been my experience. My social circle of Millennials have proven to be more open-minded, forgiving of the two political parties, and middle ground than those in my social circle of older generation whom seem blinded-sided, bias in the jaded emotional investment.

I’ve also read HR surveys that have concluded that most millennials (I believe it was 70%?) think very positively and optimistically of their managers, believing their managers have a lot to teach them. But that this a way street. That most managers thought very lowly of these millennials in return. I believe it was approximately 30% of managers thought positively of the millennial employees, instead believing that their the Gen-Y employees are unwillingly to learn and are well, arrogant brats. So clearly either some sort of serious cross-generational miscommunication is happening (because the data is proving, whats in the minds and attitudes of Gen-Y is the opposite of what Gen-X is perceiving) or that some generational bias / agism is simply happening.

Maybe Gen-X grew up with an extra level of cynicism, that makes them more impatient with a novice workforce — and perhaps not. Even if there is no misunderstanding is taking place, every claim Gen-X has against the youngest and most novice workforce is correct: they are audacious, insecure, fragile, egoistical know-it-alls, annoying always wanting feedback from their superiors, lazy, too emotionally hard on themselves if they aren’t good at their jobs and receive negative criticism, too-needy, non-chalet, annoyingly constantly asking ‘why’ and asking other questions about their job, have an infuriating lack of basic office politics knowledge and professional interpersonal abilities, etc.

Why on earth would the belief be: “Well. So this is the end of America.” “We RUINED this generation” ? About the current very youngest workforce. That seems to be writing them off pretty quickly (while they are still *the* youngest, most novice workforce available). Rather than “Once they have more actual years of experience, ‘pay their dues’ to become effective workers, they will adjust to working world, grow up, and adapt?”

Another last thought I’d like to add, Millennials have also been considered the “entrepreneur” generation. More entrepreneur programs have been added to colleges. And unlike Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers, Gen-Yers have shown in studies to be more motivated by purpose and greater good than money and status. So we are seeing now, even the rise of social entrepreneurship programs

In my research, I agree with your conclusion that many Millennial stereotypes are a reflection of youth rather than generation. However, I believe that Millennials and all future generations do require different management skills. As I discuss in my talks, the introduction of technology, i.e. the internet and mobile devices, has brought pervasive changes to how we all think, learn, and work (regardless of generation). For all previous generations, they remember a different way of doing things. Future generations will not. The world of work is changing as well due to technology and management skills will need to adapt in order to survive and especially to succeed.